[Chapter 40: Aw Shit, Here We Go Again]

"Choji, may I have some of God's glorious creations?" I sniffed, a hand out for the said ninja with the other over my lowered face. It— it isn't fair!

"Oh, sure," Letting me dive my hand into his bag of chips, I chomped on one with tears streaking down my face. Sad crunches were heard. "Why are you crying though?"

"Because of that!" Pointing in accusation, the boy glanced to where Hiro and his team were, Hinata specifically. "When we came to this dang chunin exams here, I saw Hinata-tan run over to us— to me! So like the gracious and loveable person I was, I opened my arms for her!"

With a slouched back, I jerked my arms out, palms up. "But then she chose Hiro over me!!!" I cried in utter despair, dropping down to my knees. I get it, he's her twin but, I slammed my fists on the floor, I want huggies too!

"That's right." Feeling a pat on my back, I glanced up at him. Ah, he looks like, wait a minute— "Cry." I choked on my spit, turning away from him. Wtf, Krillin?!

Nobody cared about the crowd's stares of disgust.

✪ꀾ

Glancing around, everything was bare, so very empty. There was nothing on the walls, no furniture, and the only thing I could consider present was the door we came from and the shinobi on the other side. "This is a very weird escape room."

"I agree," From my left, Sakura spoke with furrowed brows and hands on her hips. "It's not even giving us a clue!"

So when the instructors came in and started these chunin exams, they rambled on and one about the importance of the exams, yadda yadda yadda, let's shove people who can see through walls into escape rooms, wooooooooh!

Yeah, not fun.

"There really is nothing here," Hiro noted, stroking the wall with a hand. With veins popping out on his face, he glanced back at us. "Does your Sharingan see anything? My Byakugan isn't."

Blinking, my vision turned red. "Nope, no chakra at all!" Tilting at my head, I hummed with a question on my mind. Is this just a regular escape room? Turning off my bloodline limit, I shook my head. "Maybe we're going too far. What's something Kusagakure would do?" Besides abusing Uzumakis.

"If I recall," The pinkette raised a finger in thought. Ah, there she goes textbook-chan! "Kusagakure is known to be very analytical, diplomacy a talent in their ranks." Shifting the balls of her feet as if to keep her on track, she paced around. "There's probably something we're overlooking."

Overlooking, huh? Sitting on the ground, I dined out Hiro's complaints as I searched through our minds. What could we be overlooking when there's practically here? There's no secret cracks, no hidden codes, not even gamer girl bathwater! Their only thing here is...

"Oh!"

Sakura and I both exclaimed at the same time. Letting out a giggle, that was so cute, I sat right up with a smile. "You realized it too, right?" I excitably asked her.

"I hope we got the same idea, Megumi-chan!" Lifting me off of the ground with a pull, we skipped over to the door.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Our other teammate strolled up to us. "That's where we came from, there are ninjas on the other side of it too."

"Just follow us~!" Ushering him to our side, I grabbed the doorknob. If we get knocked out I'm suing someone— Opening the door, I met the gaze of one of the strangers on the other side.

"What are you doing?" He spoke, alluding auras that didn't bother me in the slightest.

I smiled with a small laugh. The fact that he's even asking means that this is the answer. "Escaping the room! That is the objective, right?" The older male stood silent, before moving the other to step aside.

"Go to room 207, that'll be where your next exam will be held." I giggled, humming a cheery song with hands holding both my friends as we walked out.

"It was that easy?" My dear Hyuuga questioned, skepticism laced in his voice.

Sakura laughed. "Yeah! I mean, they would make us think we need to analyze the area harder when the answer was as simple as opening a door!"

"'Look underneath the underneath!' Or that's what a certain dum dum says," Swinging our arms around, I glanced at them both. "Besides, they never said how to do it. We just had to escape."

Hiro huffed as if he was dissatisfied with the turn of events. "Still bugs me how were barely spent 5 minutes on that though."

"Just look on the bright side!" I exclaimed, "We can see our adorable Hinata-tan again!"

"'Our'?"

"Yes. Communism." He groaned from my totally awesome joke.

"...what is communism?" I blinked at the other female, is she— oh shit she's

Releasing my hold on them, I pushed my arms up in the air, jazz hands and all. "Okay then! Let me tell you, oh so curious one, the wonders of communism!"

So it's safe to say that she's thoroughly traumatized. But it's ok, she'll get over it! Probably.

Anyways, after everyone did their rooms, surprisingly a lot of people failed except for Konoha, our next instructor announced our next task.

It was basically a 5-day game of capture the flag: where we had to capture other teams' flags and camp out so people wouldn't take ours. Pretty simple to be honest. And so, that leads us into another huge forest, one vaguely like the forest of death. We sorted off into our area, and when the game started, all I could say was...

"Why the fuck is this so boring?" I whined with the puff of my cheeks, my body allaying against the dirty ground. "You know, maybe it would have been worth the risk going to Kirigakure." Yagura's already dead at that time too so it would've been perfect!

"Why are you relaxing already?" Sakura asked in an annoyed tone, blocking my view with her big ass forehead. "There are teams here that can potentially kill us!"

"Like that isn't the norm for us!" I shot back with a giggle, sitting up with the swing of my arms. "Besides," I held a finger up. "We could get a flag in five minutes."

In the corners of my eyes, Hiro rose a brow. "What do you mean we can... oh, that." The bubblegum girl turned her head at the boy in question, causing him to sigh. "She could just body flicker to a team and take it before they could do anything."

I clapped my hands together. "Ding-a-ling ding! That's exactly what I'm doing!" I'm surprised people don't abuse this power. Standing up, I wrapped my arms around the pinkette's. "So Hiro, go guard the flag for us, will ya?"

"Eh?" She jerked her head at me in shock. "Wha— just like that?" She motioned to our flag. "But shouldn't it be better to have two people guarding it?"

"It's fine," Hiro assured her, cracking his wrists. "It's better this way."

I hummed in agreement. "We all know I'm not the offensive type, unlike the two of you, so I'll need you as support. And besides," My eyes darted at Hiro's clean ones. We held contact, just like the many times before. But it wasn't bad in any way— it was filled with... I smiled. "I trust Hiro."

He tensed, yet never broke eye-contact. Trusting my heart, I knew the heir wasn't scared. No, it was as if... he wanted to repay my trust. That's what it told me.

And who am I to deny that?

With a wave, I gave him one last wink before teleporting both Sakura and me away.

"What the—?!"

"It's high noon

"You're not going anywhere?" I titled my body as I questioned Hiro, who sat on the sofa in the hotel lounge. It was way passed the second phase, and surprisingly, all the Konoha teams passed. It was only the Konoha teams. Wack, right? What's even the point of these chunin exams anymore?

Anyway, it's been like two days after that and in the hotel, there was only Hiro and I that I knew were present. The gang wanted to hang out together. Sakura did ask me to come with but, as shameful as it was, I rejected her, telling her that I had other things to do.

Or, at least until I found out that you can't leave the village during this time. Damn it.

"What about you?" Hiro shot back, fiddling with his camera. I giggled, touché. Sitting next to him, I leaned back against the couch.

"I wanted to go to the Tenchi bridge," I explained, causing the boy to look back at me with a silent question emitted out. "You know, the one bridge that will be the Orochimaru encounter."

He blinked. "Oh, that. Yeah, you did mention something like that happening."

I hummed, glancing back at his light green camera. "I'm surprised that it still works. I had no money when I got you that." Maybe it's the power of anime?

"I'd be pissed if it broke early."

"Awwww~ does that mean you appreciate my gift?!" I leaned in, making him jerk in discomfort.

"O—Oi!" He yelled, the tips of his ears and cheeks turning pink. I giggled, the tsun tsun is here!

Holding a hand out, I laughed more as his shoulders seemed to stiffen. "Ok, ok, I'll stop— for now." He frowned, darting his narrowed eyes away, but he didn't seem that agitated. Titling my head. "But are you really gonna not do anything this month?"

He huffed, placing his item in his lap. "There isn't anything I'd want to see in this place." I hummed, that's kinda depressing. Looking away, I looked out into the window, it's almost sunset...

Ah! Standing up, I ignored the Hyuuga's baffled exclaims as I turned around, hand sup in the air. Grabbing his big hands, I pulled him up with much glee. "Come on, Hiro— let's go eat!"

"Huh?!" He sputtered out in shock, his eyes widening with surprise. "Wha— where would we even go?!"

I giggled, pulling him over to be at my side. "It's fine where ever!" I grinned at his shaken expression. "Just have fun!"

His face scrunched at the sight of the menu. "It's all mushroom?"

"Always has been." I snorted at my joke, holy shit it just slipped out! Glancing back out my menu, I just blinked. "Huh, it really is just mushrooms."

"No shit."

We settled in a small restaurant, which, apparently, only had only mushroom cuisine. It made sense, actually, because the village was surrounded by it. After we ordered, Hiro got a Mushroom Risotto while I got a mushroom and burrata lasagnette, a comforting silence upon us. The chatters of the other tables made it almost seem like home.

"Hey, Hiro," He inclined his head at me. I shifted in my seat in an attempt to get comfier. "You think I can just chuck mushrooms at my enemies?"

The Hyuuga choked on his spit, leaning forward with furrowed brows. "Why would you—?!" His voice cracked. It fucking cracked.

"Pffft—" I giggled into my hand, amusement rising as the boy blew bright pink. "Ahehehe!" I laughed as he sputtered out flustered. "Guess you finally hit puberty!

With a tint of red at the ends of his ears, he huffed with crossed arms, averting his gaze. "After all of my effort of hiding it..."

I tilted my head, yet my grin didn't go away. "Why though?" I gushed with my hands cupping my face. "It's so cute~!"

"I'd rather not be cute." With furrowed brows, he darted his eyes at me. "Haven't you gone through puberty too?"

I laughed. "Of course, I'm not a lolibaba or whatever." The boy raised a brow but didn't bother questioning me. "I got bras and everything! I even get—!"

"I did not need to know that." The Hyuuga immediately injected. His nose scrunched, inching away to the back of his chair.

"But it's there, forever haunting the back of your mind." I hummed, but then my eyes widened. "Ah!" Clapping my hands together, I darted my attention back at him. "Let's play 20 questions!"

"20 questions?"

"Mhm!" I titled my head around, straightening my back with a wave of a finger. "Except we're not finding an answer. More of like just answering questions. It's just to get to know each other— our past lives I mean."

"So not 20 questions."

I laughed before pointing my finger at him. "But we don't have to answer anything too personal. That's okay?"

His face contorted to one of skepticism. But then he just sighed. "Fine. Need something to pass the time anyway."

I cheered, clapping my hands together in a rhythmic matter. "Yay!!!" I scooted closer to our table, eager for the answers. "Wanna start?"

"It's your idea and you want me to start?" I just giggled in response. Watching the shinobi sigh, again, his lips quirked up. "Sure. What... erm, what's your college major?"

So starting with that, huh? "It was psychology. Wanted to be a therapist, ya know?" I answered simply, drumming my fingers against the hard surface. "Let's see... did you have any pets?"

"Nope, didn't care to." He played around with his bandages. "Did you?"

"Same." A hum rumbled out from me, as I twirled a hair strand. "Was too broke. What was your phone model?"

His fingers curled. "Phone model," Hiro averted his eyes. "I think it was an... iPhone 11 Pro?"

I sputtered, my hands slamming against the table. "What?!" Gaping at a wide-eyed boy, I slouched. "That's so expensive... huh? Were you a rich boy?"

I could physically hear him cringe. "Please don't call me that." Internally, I rose a brow, though I only sat up on the outside. It was only a joke but he sounded... disgusted by it. I shrugged. It's probably too personal to him.

"Alrighty then— your turn!"

"Already? I mean, I guess that counts as a question." Cracking his joints in boredom, well it was kinda boring, but I digress. "Uh... what were your favorite hobbies?"

I blinked, I haven't thought about them: cuz of all the save-the-world stuff. Let's see... My finger lingered on my chin. "I think they were watching anime, making memes, reading, and memorizing the bee movie script."

"The what—"

"Shush!" Pressing a finger onto his mouth, I giggled as the Hyuuga tensed. "My turn." Reeling back, I pressed my fingers together. "Hmm... What was your username? For social media."

"Oh god no." I snorted at his curt yet traumatized reply. That was unexpected.

"Oh come on Hiro~" I teased at his rigid figure, curiosity growing at the sight of his pursed lips. "Tell me~"

The said boy looked away, furrowing his brows. "Princess, I'd rather not."

"Why? Is it personal?"

"...No, just— just embarrassing."

The smile on my face only seemed to widen. "And so as your Princess, I demand you to tell me!" And since it's not personal, should be fine!

He stared back at me with a deadpan. And then he groaned, ducking his head down.

"...1422."

I tilted my head. "What was that?" His head flinched, the hesitance very clear in his body language. Ahaha, it couldn't be that ba—

"TanjiroKamadoBoi1422!" I blinked. And blinked again.

And then I broke.

"PFFFT—- OH MY FUCKING GOD, I bellowed out with so much oxygen, I can't breathe, escaping out of me. If it wasn't for that we were in a restaurant I would've fallen to the floor. "That's the cringiest thing I've ever heard!"

"I get that now!" He exclaimed, a blush very prominent on his cheeks. "And— and stop laughing!"

So it took me a whole 2 minutes and 17 seconds for me to calm down.

"Ok, ok," I heaved out a deep breath. "It's— it's your turn."

With his head behind his arms as he laid against the table, ears flushed pink, Hiro sighed, though it was muffled. "I'll be getting you back for this." My ears picked up his totally-scary threat. I giggled. "What was your username?"

"Mine was xxeatingpotatoesxx." I proclaimed proudly, chest bouncing up.

"Xxeatingpotatoesxx?" Hiro raised his head. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Hey!" I pointed an accusing finger at him. "It's a great name! And I thought of it while eating a potato!"

"Now?"

"Yep!" I said with much glee. "Next one: was English your first language?"

"Nah," The boy shrugged. "I came from Korea but then had to move for college. I had to study a lot to get this fluent."

I hummed, that's cool. Noticing a certain chakra signature, I glanced around. "Looks like our food is here!" And I was right! Our waitress, she was cute, brought our dishes and holy shit did it look good! Hiro's risotto was steaming and looked so delicious and so I just assumed that mine was just as great—

Well, until I bit into mine.

"Eugh!" I gagged, quickly swallowing the piece I had before almost puking. I reeled back from my dinner. Wtf?? The mushrooms were raw, there was too much salt and pepper, there's a bunch of burnt mozzarella now that I look and it and— was that

Aah... I picked up my chopstick, feeling a part of me scream in anguish. This is what I'm going to be eating— "What? Is it not good?" Hiro asked in concern, lowering his tools. He munched on his dish. Lucky him.

"This shit is disgusting." I regrettably lamented, dramatically holding in a sob. F in the chat please? I raised my sticks anyway.

"Wait— you're still eating it?!" Blinking at the sudden appearance of an opened-hand, I glanced up to see my dear Hyuuga staring at me with a frantic gaze. "Can't you just ask for them to make another?"

I sighed, giving him a thankful smile. "I would like to but we're in a different village. What if I piss them off? That'll suck." I twirled my chopsticks around. "Besides, I don't like wasting food. It's... something ingrained in me."

I saw the shinobi clam his mouth shut. "...even if it's gross?"

I sighed. "Food is food— practically a sin to waste it."

Looking away, I smiled, it's fine— it's not the worst I've tasted. Clicking my sticks together, I lowered them to get another piece of that disgusting, revolting dish—

Only to see it swiped.

My eyes widened. "Hiro—!" I halted when his one dish was shoved onto my side. I puffed up my cheeks. "Give it back, it's mine!" Reaching out, I only felt frustration build up as I missed.

"No way." Came to his irritated answer as he narrowly escaped my grabs each time. A frown tugged my lips, Hah? "I don't want to deal with your complaints, later on, Princess." My breath hitched, he's... "And it's fine, I wasn't that hungry anyway."

My hand dropped to the table, only my eyes trailing down to the details of his face. He really didn't have to... But, I guess that's just what caring makes you do. It was only a split second later that I smiled, leaning in for a bite. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I felt bad later on when Hiro got food poisoned. But don't worry, we promptly sued that restaurant later.